True Love
by AsulNaRosa
Summary: The promised second alternate chapter written by veamgee. So Yumi survives the clutches of death. What does her story tell us now after several years has passed by?


A/N: So this is my co-author's version of the happy ending! Just a quick warning: This version is **M-Rated**! I cannot stress this enough! Enjoy~

**Disclaime**r**:** Neither veamgee or I own Marimite and its characters. All belongs to Oyuki Konno.

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_**Chapter 22 **__**(Alternate chapter 2)**__**Yumi: True Love**_

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"Mhmm, Sachiko honey, please stop that." I whisper breathlessly into my love's hair as she placed kisses into the crook of my neck; her body straddling my own on our comfy mattress.

"And why's that dear? Don't you like this anymore?"

I look down and see that she suddenly stops what she was doing and looks up to face me. I shudder a bit upon seeing her eyes have become a slightly darker shade of blue that is filled with so much love and lust for me. I inhale for much needed air since I feel like I haven't taken a breath for an eternity and shakily whisper back my response as I shake my head just to prove my point of having no problem at all with what we, I mean she, is doing to me.

"No, it's not that. I actually enjoy these moments with you."

She flashes her extraordinarily gorgeous smile at me, cutely cocks her head to the side and innocently asks, "Then why do you want me to stop?"

I give her an incredulous look in response. Did she really just use her I-am-as-innocent-as-ever voice with me?

I sigh as I try to bite back the fit of giggles that threatened to surface on my lips. I can practically see the mischievousness in her eyes as she states that not so innocent question. "We just ate dinner and recently tucked Yumiko to bed. I doubt she's happily drifting in dreamland right now. So…"

"Why yes baby. I know we just had dinner a few…" She seems to be pondering the right word for a little while before continuing, "…centuries ago."

I roll my eyes at that. Is she serious? Really? Centuries? I am about to comment about that but she beats me to it.

"But I won't feel full without my dessert. And besides, it has been an hour or two since we put little Yumiko to sleep." She exasperatedly finishes her statement before wiggling her perfect brows suggestively at me.

Now that bold declaration of hers effectively made my face red. I turn to face the nightstand and realize it was indeed a while now since our only daughter went to sleep. Time sure flies when you're having fun, doesn't it? Having an utterly sexy fun time with the woman I love. I embarrassingly stutter out my reply and at the same time curse at myself internally for my failed attempt in hiding my obvious defeat.

"We are going to wake Yumiko up."

She raises one of her perfectly shaped eyebrows at me as if I magically turned into a lunatic in front of her. I can tell she is amused with me at the moment. She grins like a child and amusingly asks what I was talking about.

"Oh c'mon Sachiko. Don't give me that look. You know perfectly well what I'm talking about."

It seems the grin that was permanently stuck on her face at the moment grows even wider after hearing my response. Instead of answering me like I thought she normally did, she lowers her head and once again places open mouthed kisses on my partially exposed neck.

"Baby, please?" I plead breathlessly and note that she was grinning like crazy at the crook of my neck. She surely is not making this easy on me. Definitely not making this easy on me, _at all_. My sly and overly sexy woman.

I want her to stop but my traitorous body betrays my words for I writhed with pleasure under her as soon as she nipped, licked and bit my sensitive neck. I can feel her smiling contentedly against my skin as she witnessed my reaction to her touches; apparently she had set it as her primary goal to watch me struggle in… pleasure right now.

She halts her assaults on my neck and slowly yet agonizingly moves her lips near my earlobe and says with a husky voice—and more likely purrs as well.

"Do you really want me to stop?"

Electric waves shoot through my spine down to my heated center. And I don't mean the ones for lighting up our home, which would be an incredibly silly thought. My inner musings however are cut off as soon as I felt Sachiko's hand putting a little pressure upon touching my bare breasts. Wait. Breasts? How? Since when did she-

"Ahh… Sachikooo!" I accidentally moan out her name.

"Yes baby?"

I arch my back to her touch. Damn, the way she said her endearment to me is a total turn on. She's just too irresistible whenever she's like this; her voice—so husky that it sounds so erotically attractive echoing in my ears. Her touch is so divine that it makes me shiver even though I feel so warm inside. I just love this seductive side of Sachiko.

The side that only I can see.

She stops as she didn't hear a response from me. She retracts her hand from under my shirt and untangles herself from me. I groan which earns me a chuckle from her. She moves her hand to the nightlight that rested on the table beside our bed. After dimly lighting the place, she turns her attention back to my lying figure on the bed and her eyes immediately became hooded. I try my best to conceal the smirk that was threatening to show on my face. She must really love my body as I love hers.

I see her shaking her head slightly and force her own self to focus on the matter at hand. She looks straight into my eyes. "What are you thinking, love?"

I smile at the endearment though I miss the contact of her smooth skin against my own.

"That I'm lucky enough to have survived that accident. Otherwise, I wouldn't have this incredible life with you and Yumiko."

I see her frown at my statement. I suddenly feel frantic and am about to take back my words when I felt her whole weight again on top of me. An unladylike grunt escapes from my lips at her unexpected launch on me.

"Don't."

"Sa-Sachiko?" To say I was confused with her statement and action would be a totally huge exaggeration.

"Please don't say that again." I can hear the despair laced in her voice as she hugs me tighter, molding our bodies together into a perfect fit.

"I-I'm sorry darling. I… I just-"

"Hush baby. Don't think about that anymore. Let's just leave it be in the past." She says while stroking my hair with one of her hands while the other settled on my waist and once again she pulls me closer to her, if that were even possible at the moment.

I sigh. "I know Sachiko. But one day or the other, our daughter will ask us about how we became a couple. How she came into this world without a father. She wants to know us, our past, what we have been through. Anything and everything that comes into her young curious mind. Maybe she'll even ask about love. She has, after all, grown into such an intelligent and curious kid."

She smiles fondly as she remembers our little precious jewel. I can't help but smile as well. "Really Yumi, love? Why would she ask about that? She's still an eight year old." She looks at my direction and tries to stop the fits of giggles trying to escape her.

"We never know, you know. Kids nowadays are quite… curious about certain things."

This time, Sachiko giggles a bit. I glare at her. She raises her hand in surrender. "Okay, okay. I see your point. But really, we shouldn't worry about her asking about love just yet. And yes. She has grown into such an amazing little girl. She reminds me of someone very dear to me."

"Just like you then? Cause I find it hard to believe if you were to mean me."

She shakes her head in protest though her smile never left her beautiful face. "You never grow, do you?"

I can feel my own smile falter as confusion strikes me. "I'm sorry but what do you mean? I think I have grown an inch or two."

She shakes her head once again and slightly leans towards me. "Why do you always think lowly of yourself?"

I smirk and stick out my tongue to her. "I guess old habits die late."

Suddenly, she places a chaste kiss on my lips. "God I love you."

I blush and being my old self, I stumble out my reply. I glare at her for laughing at me. But she just shrugs it off and says she can't help it because I'm too cute for my own good. I guess my blush deepened upon seeing her shoulders shake in laughter.

"And you love me for it." It was supposed to be meant for myself but I'm guessing she heard it for she grins at me.

"That's right. And I love you for it." Her face becomes serious all of a sudden.

"Now, about Yumiko." She starts before sighing. "I am fully aware that she will ask us one day about our lives either because of her curiosity or her own way of saying she wants to know her parents more. And there is no doubt that we will tell her the whole thing, even if it still hurts and haunts me every single day."

"Oh Sachiko." I wipe the single tear that fell from her eyes. I hate to see her cry. It makes me want to shed tears as well.

"I'm sorry Yumi. I just couldn't imagine you…" She shakes her head and shivers at the mere thought of me… "Dead." She finishes.

"I'm sorry baby. I didn't mean to bring out the pain from before."

She laughs a bit before lovingly cupping my cheeks. "Shh, it's alright, really. I can't blame you. After all, it was all my fault that you almost-"

Before she can finish her sentence though, I capture her lips and kiss her senselessly. I can't bear the thought that she would blame herself for what happened. Surely, it was my fault. If I was strong enough to stay by her side and stand up against her old folks, we would have spared a lot of pain, heartbreak and tears. I break from the heated kiss to intake much needed air. Blast these lungs of mine! I rest my forehead against hers and intently look into her eyes, her soul. I can see her struggling to keep her pain and tears at bay. I mentally kick myself upon being fully aware that I am the cause of her dread and worry right now.

"I'm sorry." I reiterate foolishly, not knowing what else to say. God, I hate myself at the moment. Why did I even bother to bring that topic out? I know full well that she's sensitive about this. I am so stupid.

"I love you." She says before locking our lips for another one of our heated kiss. She moves her lips in a painfully slow and sensually erotic motion as I follow suit. All anger I felt for myself vanished into thin air and is replaced with all the love in the world I have for this woman and our family. I strangle my hands on her hair and pull her head to me as an attempt to bring her closer, for me to feel her fully. I feel her tongue brush my lower lip but I hold my ground. I won't let her win this time. She groans and I smile against the kiss. She traces her tongue again but because I'm so stubborn, I just won't let her in.

After a few minutes of trying to grant access into my mouth, she pulls apart slowly as she breathes in heavily. To be fair, we both are panting heavily. Before I can properly catch my breath though, she pulls me in into another kiss. This time, she wasn't so gentle like earlier. Instead, Sachiko was rather aggressive on this one—which of course hyped my arousal even more. We move our lips in perfect harmony to the rhythm she set. And again, she tries to deepen the kiss but I just won't let her. She groans yet another time as I smiled yet again.

Just then, I can feel her grinning in the kiss we are currently sharing. And because of the child-at-heart that I am, I got curious as to what could have possibly triggered this mysterious smile. All thoughts leave me though as soon as I felt her hands moving up and down my body, specifically near my abdomen. I moan.

But then after a few minutes of Sachiko roaming my sides, she unexpectedly attacks me by squeezing my ever delicately ticklish body. This of course makes me break from the kiss in order to laugh. But instead of laughter erupting from me, it became a whimper of excitement. I can't believe her! She's just full of surprises, and let's not forget her atrocity with certain things.

Such an incredibly talented and clever devil she is. It took all of me not to cave in into her attempts of tasting my mouth and yet, it didn't take her ten minutes to figure something out and grant her own access. She freaking tickled me! Ugh, such a little devil indeed. My very own dazzling devil to be exact.

She selfishly tackles my tongue with her own and we fight for dominance. To her glory- and effectively to my despair- she wins the battle and completely dominates me. She relentlessly twists, teases, massages and nibbles me, leaving me breathless yet wanting for more when she pulled back.

She flashes me one of her many heart-melting smile then grins wickedly at me. She bends down near my right ear and whispers seductively "I sure know how to make you breathless, right love?" as she once again touches my body running her hands up and down my torso till my breasts. And for the reason that my body is a heavily responsive type, I whimper under her pleasant touch that formed goose bumps on my covered skin. Instinctively, I arch my back to put pressure on the areas where her hand would trail.

"You are just adorable Yumi. You know, you are impossible to resist." Before I can answer though, she thrusts her lips once again unto mine. This time, her hands join in the action with more feathery contact on my aching hot skin and eliciting a low moan out of me. I am most definitely still cautious of waking our daughter up. I most definitely don't want her to wake up only to hear bits and pieces of our love making session. That would surely kill me out of utter embarrassment.

"Hush now baby. Let me remind you who didn't want to wake our daughter up in the first place." She says amidst our heated kiss.

"I…"

"Hm?"

"I couldn't… Sa-sachiko!"

"Yes?"

"Stop teasing me!" I stumble yet again.

She chuckles while biting on the nape of my neck. I groan.

"Oops, that's gonna leave a mark." She smirked against my hot skin. "Yumi, quiet down." She chuckles while I just rolled my eyes at her.

"I can't help… Oh god, what are you do-" I am halted midsentence with her pointer on top of my lips. I bit it as I felt one of her long and slender fingers enter my humid, sticky center in my shorts. My muffled moans, rocking of the bed and our heavy ragged breathing are the only sounds that surrounded our room. I hope it doesn't fill the whole house.

I tremble as Sachiko placed another finger inside of me.

"Mm Yumi, you are so tight."

I hear her moan into my mouth. I'm guessing my lower lips tightened their hold on her thrusting fingers. She quickly grabs hold of my breasts from under my shirt and pinches one of my nipples that wasted no time in hardening. She suddenly retracts her pumping fingers and I whimper in protest against her illegal action. I mean, c'mon, who in the world would retract their fingers when they know their partner is almost on their edge? 'Cause I certainly have no idea who would do such a bold and unusual thing. And because I am pissed at what she did to disrupt our moment, I didn't register the two important facts that one: she practically tore my clothing out of my body, and two: I am lying down in front of her in all of my half-naked glory since my shorts are still attached on my lower part, but I doubt it will stay there a minute from now.

All my anger vanished from my head however when I felt my love's hand massaging my now completely exposed and heaving chest. Incredible. Just incredible. That's what she always makes me feel every time we make love to each other. The intensity of pleasure doubled when she placed one of my hard teats on her warm mouth. I jerk from the contact and arch my back.

"I can't take it Sachiko. I need you. I need to feel you so badly right now."

She excitedly and a little bit hurriedly takes the upper portion of her clothes off of her, leaving my side for a record breaking time of ten seconds. I giggle softly at her eagerness. She is too cute to be true, not to mention a goddess of breathtaking beauty.

She looks confused for a moment before her look was replaced by a sinister grin.

I swallow an invisible lump that got stuck in my throat.

God, so freaking sexy indeed.

"Sachiko, you're so bea-" I was cut off mid-sentence yet again by her eager tongue on me, though I'm not complaining. The pleasure is just too much that I can't possibly feel bad.

Eventually, I have to pull away from our heated kiss as soon as I felt her fingers inside of me again –the action completely catching me off-guard. Just how in the world does she rip my clothes off my body without me noticing her at all? Oh I remember now, her sweet caresses that drive me crazy every single time.

"God Yumi, you are the image of perfection."

"Just what are yo-"

"Hush love. Now allow me to show you the intensity of my love I bear for you since we met; got married and till death we shall part but unite."

After that particular statement, silence befalls the whole house. I can practically feel my face burning up with embarrassment at her heartfelt declaration. And judging by the loud thumping sound that fills the silence of the room, I have a pretty good guess my heart beat is faster than normal that I'm almost afraid that the beating organ might just rip itself out of my rib cage.

But seriously, why did she just say that I am an image of perfection? That is obviously a big misunderstanding on her part. For it is pretty clear between the two of us who really is the true beauty, inside and out. I am about to voice out my thoughts when she quickly cuts me off, undoubtedly reading my thoughts through my facial expressions. For heaven's sake, why can't my face stay still for a moment?

"Yumi please. Not another word about what I just said about you. Yumi, you're beautiful. In fact the most gorgeous person I have ever laid eyes on. You're perfect inside and out. You have a big heart that matches your pretty features. A rare combination but can be made possible. And the living proof is right here in front of me."

"Sachiko…"

"Baby, I am so so so lucky to have you and Yumiko in my life. The two of you have made me one happy woman that can't get enough of both of your greatness. Yumi, you must learn to accept the fact that you are greater than you think you are. You're beyond beautiful, kind-hearted, and simply the best person I have met and known in this existence of mine. I can't get enough of you, not a single bit. I love you, baby."

"I never knew you are such a romantic, Sachiko." I say seductively as I rub her jaw line in a little bit slow manner. And with the reaction she blessed me with, I'm guessing she also felt the tingles of electricity that burned on my skin that traced hers. I inch my face closer to hers and whisper, "You're not the only lucky one though." I cup her cheeks with my hands and gaze deeply into her eyes, "The Lord has blessed me with a gorgeous wife and an equally loving daughter." I inch even closer, my lips merely centimeters away from hers as I said "I love you baby."

"As I love you, Yumi." With that, our lips became one.

The love I have for this woman is as deep as the abyss, as strong as a diamond and as everlasting as eternity. We break apart from the kiss and for the first time I noticed our bedroom. For some unknown reason, the luminous light of the moon found its way inside our room. The light bounced from the four corners of the room, making the room brighter in my eyes. I look back at Sachiko and my breath got caught on my throat.

An angel.

A breathtaking, living angel is staring right at me.

"Beautiful." I hear the angel say.

I find myself nodding my approval at how that single word describes her right now. Sachiko is simply a creature of unearthly beauty. I lift my hands to her face and saw her lean in to my touch. I smile. "Sachiko…"

She raises her hand to her cheek and covers my hand. "Yumi?"

"Yes?"

"Have I ever told you how stunning you are?"

I chuckle at that. "Why no. I don't believe you have."

She pouts at my words, looking incredibly cute. I laugh even more, this time with Sachiko.

"'Cause you certainly are."

She says before adding, "Especially under the moonlight."

"I could say the same about you."

Her lips break into a dazzling smile as her hands made its way into my body, gently caressing it.

She dips her body forward as her caress becomes firmer.

"So overwhelmingly stunning."

My body arches as her hand travels down and lightly touches my throbbing clit.

"Oh god, oh god Sachiko. Please don't stop, don't stop."

"If you wish it, beautiful." –were her last words before she thrusts two fingers hard into me. The sudden action made me take in a breath sharply. My cry out for pleasure though was effectively muffled as Sachiko kissed me. Each time her fingers enter me, the deeper it goes.

We both groan and I became fully aware that we are almost there. Our lips detach themselves as our climax was staring to build on the pits of our stomach. Sachiko increases her pumping pace as I increased my rocking pace.

She leans in my right ear and breathes out, "Cum for me baby…"

I cry out her name as the force of my orgasm hits me fully.

A few minutes have passed as my erratic breathing finally became slow. We are both covered with sweat as Sachiko cuddles behind me. My back touching her front in the process, making my head swirl with ecstasy once again. I for one have not yet recovered from our recent activity.

"How was it?"

I shudder as her breath brushed my still overly sensitive heated earlobe. I turn around and found our faces near each other, only a small gap separating us.

"It was…" I breathe out.

I see her raising her brow in question. And I smirk in return. Instead of answering her like she wants me to, I roll over on top of her, and this time it is my uncovered body straddling hers in a really intimate way. Sachiko definitely did not expect that coming since she stared back at me, surprise written all over her features.

I am very sure that my smirk became a mischievous grin once I saw her reaction. My hands started roaming on their own on her body. I swear they have a brain of their own sometimes. I see Sachiko writhing below me, her breaths ragged just like mine a few minutes ago. My grin widens as I leaned down, stopping on her right ear to whisper slash purr, "How 'bout I just show you? Ready for round two, love?"

She lets out a shaky breath and starts stroking my bare back. As I felt her touch, I immediately lean back away. I shake my head from side to side and say;

"Tsk tsk, no touching Sachiko. It's my turn now, remember?"

I can tell she was about to protest but I hush her up with my finger on her lips.

"Behave baby. Or you won't be able to touch me for two whole weeks."

She shudders at that. I know she can't live without touching me for almost every day so I'm well aware of what she's thinking. Torture. Pure torture on her part. I flash my victory smile at her while she just groans out in a childish way, no doubt her way of admitting her defeat. After all these years of knowing each other and being married, Sachiko's stubbornness never showed any signs of changing. But I'm not complaining, since she looks really adorable when she's this helpless.

"Now that's better. Stay still, alright?" I say seductively as my finger was now stroking under her chin, like the way you would do when you pet your cat. I heard her purr in response.

I was about to start our second round of fun when we both heard a soft knock on our door. We both look up and bore holes on the poor inanimate object. To say we were surprised wouldn't suffice for the feeling of annoyance we both felt with the interruption. We stay still and wait for another sound but upon hearing none, I turn my attention back to my captive. "Well, how about we forget that little inter-"

"Mommies? Are you still awake?"

Immediately, I jerk up. Was that Yumiko's voice just now? I look back towards Sachiko's only to see pure shock crossing her face which by the way is accompanied by a full-blown blush. I'm guessing my face is sporting the same reaction, only my blush is a tad deeper in color than hers. I open my mouth to say something but was beaten by our little darling's voice.

"Mommies?"

"Yes, sweetie. We'll be right up." Sachiko shouts back in her calm voice, although I can tell it's a bit husky due to our not so innocent latest doings.

I quickly jump off of her body and pick up my discarded clothes on the floor, Sachiko in turn doing the same. I guess my actions proved to be a little distractive, since when I turned around, Sachiko's eyes were a bit glazed and looking just below the pit of my stomach. When her eyes travelled up my body and finally met mine, I wink at her. This rewarded me with another blush from her. Oh, adorable! I giggle at her while she gave me a mock glare. In return, I stuck my tongue out at her playfully. She sighs and shakes her head, although I can see with the help of the moon's light and the nightstand's that her lips were slightly curved upward. Indicating she is smiling at our playfulness.

We put on our clothes as fast as we can, and before opening the door to face our daughter, we straightened our composure and looks. Dearly praying to Maria-sama that we don't look that disheveled from our love making. Sachiko decides to sit down on the bed and pretends to be reading some book while I silently walk towards the door. As soon as it opened, a small figure launched towards me, causing me to lose my balance a little. It was not soon after that I heard sobs in the room. I look down and saw Yumiko burying her face on my night clothes, but I can tell by her shaking body that she was crying. I bend down towards her face level and hug her with all the love I have for her.

She really has become such a wonderful little adult. Nine years of marriage and we have an eight year old little demon in our grasp. I am lucky, very lucky indeed. Yumiko looks exactly the same before we put her to bed. She's on her nightgown and her teddy bear on one arm. The only difference is, her jade green eyes were glossy with tears and filled with so much fear, her light brown hair was also a little disarray. It broke my heart at how scared she was feeling.

For the second time that night, I hug her again.

"Ssh baby. Please stop crying. Did you have a bad dream?" I whisper into her ear, in which she nodded her head after hearing my question. I hug her tighter and usher comforting words to her. It seems to help since her shaking settled down a bit but her tears were still pouring out. Once again, I pull back from our embrace and make her look at me straight in the eyes.

"It's okay Yumiko. It was just a bad dream. I'm here for you. Mommy Sachiko's here for you as well." With that said, I see Sachiko kneeling down and hugging our daughter from behind. Since when did she stand up from the bed and walk over here? I have no idea.

"I know Mommy. It's just, it was a really, really bad dream. And I really hope it won't happen ever in real life."

"What was it all about baby?" I hear Sachiko ask Yumiko very gently. We don't want her to experience such terrible traumas from her sleep by being pushy.

"It's…" She's hesitant to tell us, that much is obvious.

I kneel down as well and face Yumiko.

"Sweetie, we're here for you. Mommy Sachiko, you and I will conquer this bad dream of yours. We promise you that with all of our heart."

Yumiko smiles at me and nods her head.

"Come on, let's go sit on the bed and from there you can tell us all about your bad dream. What do you say?" Sachiko suggests with a smile and we all agreed to it.

As soon as we got seated, with Yumiko on the center, Sachiko on her right and me on her left, the little girl started fidgeting. I try to fight off the small giggle to escape but to no avail. The two of them look towards me, one with amusement on their face, the other with a little annoyed expression on hers.

"I'm sorry baby girl. You just look too cute when you fidget." I coo at our scowling daughter. This time, Sachiko snickers a bit and was rewarded with a glare from the youngest of us all.

"I'm sorry baby, but I completely agree with Mommy Yumi. You're really cute when you're annoyed." She says as she sported a silly grin on her face.

Yumiko huffs and puffs, causing us both to erupt in laughter. She then sticks her tongue out to both of us once we calmed down a bit.

"Oh, don't be like that baby. We were just trying to lighten up the mood."

"That's right sweetheart. Besides, now I know whose genes are really dominant on you. Not that it's not obvious with your hair color."

This time, I am the one sending Sachiko a glare; and both Yumiko and I stuck our tongue out at her. Silence. Then not too soon, laughter fills the room.

Struggling to get my breathing even, I try to inhale deeply only to come across with little pain on my stomach. I wince. It didn't go unnoticed though by my two other companions.

"Mommy?"

_Yumiko, she's getting worried._ I badly want to respond to her, but with every breath I took, the pain in my stomach increases. I clutch on the fabric tighter and that's when I realized the pain came from the scar on my operation years back.

"Yumi? Baby, is it hurting again?"

"Hurting again? Mommy, what's happening to mommy Yumi?" I glance to see Yumiko looking worriedly at me then to Sachiko with a curious yet fearful look. I reach out to hold her tiny hand while my other continued holding the fabric near my stomach.

Sachiko immediately walked towards me and started rubbing my back. "It's okay baby. Just breathe out slowly. Breathe with me. Inhale. Exhale."

I follow her breathing pattern and relax a bit, with the help of her hand, soothing voice and reassuring words.

A few minutes have passed as the pain finally subsided. I look up to see both Yumiko and Sachiko looking at me with worry in their facial expressions. I flash them both a reassuring smile, to show that I'm alright now; but it seems they didn't quite believe me since they continued to look at me apprehensively. I sigh a bit.

"I'm okay, really. Please don't worry about it."

Sachiko reaches for my free hand and gives it a small squeeze. I return the favor. My other hand reaches out to a still disturbed and dazed Yumiko. I lightly gave it a squeeze which effectively brought her attention back to us.

"Mommy? Are you alright now?"

"Yes sweetie. I appreciate the concern really." I smile warmly at her. Hopefully this will ease her worry a bit.

"Are you sure?"

I nod as I once again squeeze her tiny hand on mine. "Yes baby girl. I'm sure."

"This isn't the first time this happened before, right Mommy?"

I look at her dumbfounded. No doubt she's one smart kid. A trait she got from Sachiko. I turn to Sachiko's direction and she nods her head at me, giving my hand another squeeze for support. I nod in return.

"Yumiko, there's something we need to tell you."

The said girl nodded her head in understanding, straightened her back and gave me her full out attention. But she didn't let go of my grasp. I smile at that_. She's really thoughtful, isn't she?_ Another of the things I should be thankful for. Having a caring and understanding daughter.

"Yumiko, a few years back…" I choke on my last words. I'm starting to get apprehensive myself on how Yumiko will react. Will she become frantic or be able to absorb everything well? Able to accept me for who I was in the past. Of who we were, before we became a happy family like this today. If she doesn't take it well, it'll affect her a great deal. I will never forgive myself if that happens.

Sachiko must have known my feelings since she let go of my hand and embraced me from behind. I felt relieved having her by my side at the moment. I don't know what to do if she was not here with me.

"Baby, before your mother and I got married, I was involved in a car accident."

"What?!" Yumiko practically damaged my ears with her simple question. And judging by Sachiko's flinch, I pretty much guess she didn't expect that painful shriek as well. Great. My operation's scar was starting to hurt after all these years and now I'm going to have my ears checked. Gah, this is going to be a horrible week. Simply because I, for one, am not a big fan of hospitals.

"Calm down Yumiko. Are you planning on giving us a heart attack?" I hear Sachiko say in a reprimanding voice. But a small hint of playfulness and amusement mixed in didn't go unnoticed by me. I see Yumiko hung her head in shame. I can't help it, I coo at her.

"Aww don't be sad baby. Don't worry. I am as healthy as a vegetable. You won't ever give me a heart attack."

Yumiko glances back up and gives me an incredulous look. I, on the other hand, give her a confused look of my own. She shakes her head and sighs. My confusion doubles. I don't get why she gave me that kind of look. I can feel somebody vibrating from behind. I whip my head back to find a clearly entertained Sachiko, trying to bottle in her amusement. I then shot her a confused look as well. And obviously my raccoon-like face must have done the trick since she laughs hysterically. Yumiko then joins in. I look alternately at them both. I don't get what's so funny. What in the world did I just miss?

"Oh god Yumi. You should have seen your face." Sachiko starts but stops as she laughs again, clutching to her aching stomach from all the air she took in from uncharacteristically opening her mouth that wide to laugh.

"Yeah mommy. You should have seen it! It was quite an epic." Yumiko says in front of me. She was in no better shape than Sachiko in holding in her laughter. Like mother like daughter, indeed.

I sigh dramatically. "I know. I know. It's not my fault I was born with a face shaped like a raccoon."

Sachiko and Yumiko both coo at me, but I was having none of it. Time for some pay back.

"Oh come on now Yumi."

"Yeah mommy. We really didn't mean to laugh at how cute you are." Yumiko says as she cocks her head to the side in an innocent manner. Sachiko snorts from behind which causes Yumiko to lose her act.

"Oh quit it you two! I have no idea what's so funny! And clearly I hate to be left behind!" I groan and cross my arms on my chest. I am being childish, I know. But right now, I don't care.

"Okay, okay baby. It's just that watching Yumiko look at you like you have grown a second head was just too much. I couldn't help it." Sachiko explains quickly, afraid that I was offended by their actions.

I huff out once more.

"We really are sorry mommy. It's just that when you said I wouldn't give you a heart attack. It was just so… So, so I don't know. Impossible perhaps? You are not getting any younger." Yumiko says with pleading eyes. But when she said that last part, Sachiko snickers from behind. I give her a light shoulder shove. Okay, maybe it wasn't that light.

"Ouch! Yumi!" Her eyes became small slits as she rubs her aching abdomen. I smirk and bat my eyelashes at her innocently.

"What?"

She shakes her head disapprovingly but the corner of her lips was curved up.

"Mommy?"

I turn my attention back to a now calm Yumiko. "Yes baby?"

"You've mentioned before that you got involved in an accident. What happened?"

I sigh. I almost forgot I mentioned to her about that with all the playful banter we did beforehand.

"I…"

"Yumi, you don't need to tell if you don't feel ready yet." Sachiko whispers so that only she and I can hear her words. I shake my head and reply in an equally low voice.

"No, it's okay Sachiko. Yumiko has the right to know everything about us. Both pleasant and rotten memories about us."

She sighs into my ear. "Very well then. But I am here for you all throughout. Don't ever forget that. And if she doesn't take it that lightly, we'll figure something out together."

"I know." Was all I managed to say as a response before giving my attention back to my awaiting and oblivious daughter.

"Well…"

An hour has passed after practically telling our daughter every single detail that happened between Sachiko and me before the accident and the accident itself. Now, Sachiko hugs me tighter and the two of us wait for some kind of reaction from our daughter. She, after all, has learned in one single night what kind of unpleasant things we have done in the past.

"So mommy, you're saying mommy Sachiko planned on leaving you to marry Uncle Suguru?" she asks after a deafening silence among the three of us. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding up until now.

"Yes." –was my shaky, hesitant reply. Don't blame me. I am being cautious here.

"And you became a different woman afterwards?"

"Yes, that's right."

"You then met Uncle Kaoru. And the two of you quickly became friends since he was acquainted to Uncle Suguru in one way or another?"

I hum my approval.

"You shared everything? Like secrets and bonded? You spent a lot of time together?"

"Yes?" I want to sound definite but the last one came out as a question since I was starting to get confused by all of this interrogation.

Yumiko then averts her gaze to a slightly taken aback Sachiko since she a little bit flinched. We have never seen our daughter's eyes hold such degree of emotions running amok before. "You could have lost her to somebody else mommy."

To say that we were shocked by Yumiko's words would be a complete understatement.

"W… What?" Sachiko stutters out.

Yumiko shakes her head in a disapproving manner, a scowl etched on her young beautiful face. "You could have lost her to somebody else mommy Sachiko. Love knocked on your doorstep and you completely ignored it. You almost lost the one you were created, destined to be with to a car accident. You are extremely lucky mommy that a miracle happened…"

_A miracle._

The words strike me heavily.

It probably was a miracle that my heart started beating again after a few minutes of being entirely still. I remember _his_ last words to me before I became alert of my deadly situation.

"_You deserve happiness Yumi-chan. And she deserves it as well. I have never ever known two people who are so meant to be together that it breaks my heart to see the two of you apart. Fate has other plans for you. Now get your ass back there and make her swoon."_

_He then flashes me a toothy grin before pushing me out of his way. He was then engulfed in a bright white light. All I remember was that I felt like I was flying and before I knew it I heard frantic voices of doctors and nurses surrounding me._

A small smile finds its way into my lips. I look up to see a still agitated Yumiko and a sheepish looking Sachiko. _Well, now I know what purpose Sachiko's genes were. It's hard to even believe she's still eight years of age._

Yumiko then whips her head at my direction and her brows furrow together, the frown becoming more visible. "It goes the same to you as well mommy Yumi. If you didn't take your time with looking good, you wouldn't have let the cab drive you that fast and could have completely avoided that accident!" She finishes with an exaggerated flail of her arms.

I stifle a laugh; sadly my daughter was extremely keen at the moment.

"What's so funny?" She demands from me.

Yeahp. That settles it. I'm going to look for that birth certificate. Is my daughter really still eight years of age?

"Nothing baby. Now please calm down, alright? Everything's alright now, see?"

"Yes that's right Yumiko. Everything's fine now. So please calm down." Sachiko desperately finishes. She was now sitting on the other side of Yumiko. To be honest though, I never would have imagined Sachiko looking frantic before. Yumiko's stubbornness must have helped her realize just how stubborn and intimidating she is as well.

"Everything's not fine at all mommies! What if the wound on mommy Yumi's stomach was a tad bit deeper? What if mommy decided to seat beside the driver? What if luck wasn't on our side? What if mommy Yumi died?" She shouts a lot of 'what if' situations but as she reached the end, her voice became nothing more than a fearful whisper.

Yumiko's shoulders are shaking from the fear and unshed tears she desperately tried to stop. She then intakes air deeply and looks determinedly into Sachiko's own blue orbs that held unshed tears as well. I can tell they were both struggling to be strong, we all were.

"There could have been a lot of possibilities mommy Sachiko. If mommy Yumi wasn't that lucky, then what would you do? Marry Uncle Suguru and live a life that held no meaning? Mommy, I couldn't imagine seeing you in that pitiful state. Although I probably can't see you in that state since there is a chance I won't be here if the two of you didn't marry. Mommies…" She took hold of my hand, and did the same to Sachiko's.

"I care for you both. I love you both with all of my heart, mind, body and soul. Please don't ever make hasty decisions like that ever again. Promise?" She looks at us with a pleading expression.

And as much as I want to be strong for us all, my tears fell. I quickly wipe them away only to find out that more came pouring from my eyes. "I-I'm sorry. I d-didn't mean to…" I'm not able to finish my sentence however since Sachiko sealed our lips in a kiss. I kiss back in anticipation.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I catch a glimpse of Yumiko's beaming face as her eyes twinkled with merriment. And as per usual, my face alternated to becoming pale and beat red from embarrassment of kissing in front of our child.

I quickly pull away and smile shyly towards a grinning Yumiko; though I gave a mock glare at a laughing Sachiko. Now what's so funny? Just then, Yumiko starts laughing as well. And because of that, I can't help but laugh along with them. I'll never understand their sense of humor but one thing's for certain though, _I just love this family._

"So it wasn't just simply a dream." I hear Yumiko whisper under her breath.

I look at her with curious eyes. She must have felt me staring at her since she looked up and guiltily smiled at me. I become worried and say, "Yumiko, what did you mean with your statement earlier?"

Sachiko then stops laughing and looks at Yumiko with a curious expression of her own.

We see her take a long breath and say, "Idreamtaboutyouraccidentmomm yYumi."

I struggle to keep up with her words but all of my struggling was of no success so I asked if she could repeat it.

She sighs and once again breathes. This time she slowly says her words and we finally understood.

"Wait, you're saying you dreamt of my accident?"

Yumiko nods. "That's why I came here. I was so worried that I mixed reality with my dream. I was so terrified mommy; I can't lose any of you." She stares at me with glassy eyes. And because of my motherly instinct, I take her in for a hug.

"It's okay baby. It was just a nightmare." I lovingly say to her as she nods her head in understanding. She suddenly pulls back and her face was wearing another one of her infamous grins. I puzzlingly look at her as her grin turns into a smirk. She shakes her head and says, "Mommies, before I forget, I want to suggest that we buy a house that bears soundproof rooms."

Sachiko asks why.

Yumiko wickedly grins at us. "Because it serves well for privacy."

This time I'm confused.

Yumiko just sighs but her grin was still there. "Because it's not nice to teach your children naughty things you can do all by yourselves."

Hearing that statement, I was sure my eyes were as big as saucers and my face was as hot as the sun. She… Yumiko… Did she hear my… Gah! But, she was crying when she came in! And she… She even launched herself at me, don't forget the tears that came with it… Was that all an act?!

I turn to see Sachiko wearing the same expression that I was sure to be on my face as well.

Yumiko laughs at us while we send her a mocking glare.

Just who exactly is the adult and is the child in this family again?

"But… But you were crying when-" Before I can as her my question, Yumiko finishes it for me.

"I entered the room?"

I just nod in response, overwhelmed by all of this.

Yumiko thoughtfully nods her head and ponders a bit on what to say. She finally gazes up at us and gives us a smile that held happiness and sadness at the same time, "When you…" She blushes, and we blush in return knowing exactly where her train of thought is at the moment.

She clears her throat to get both of our attention before continuing a little bit embarrassed, "Well, basically I was crying when I woke up from that nightmare and I quickly came rushing to your doorstep. I was about to knock when I… I heard mommy Yumi…"

"Okay, I think we've heard enough of that baby." I interrupted hastily, desperately trying to save the three of us from further humiliation.

"But mommy!" Yumiko half-protests, half-whines.

"Yumiko, please?" I whined myself. _Oh please dear Lord, let her drop the subject. Please, please, please, I beg of you!_

"But I was getting towards the juicy part!" She is quite persistent.

"Yumiko, baby…" This time, Sachiko begs with me after recovering from shock.

"Alright."

Yumiko huffs out in annoyance while Sachiko and I breathe out in relief.

"I'm happy though."

"Huh?" Sachiko and I say in unison.

"Because even though I was able to hear… Uh… Adult things, I was able to comprehend how happy the two of you are at that moment. How you were able to be together even after all the hard obstacles. I was so happy that when my dream came into my mind once again, I wasn't able to hold back my tears."

Yumiko confesses to us heartily. We can't help but smile and hug her. She really is our special little girl.

Though our happiness promptly became awkwardness, at least on my and Sachiko's part. Yumiko just heard my cry of… I shudder while Sachiko somewhat snickers. I throw daggers at her. She's just lucky. Hmpf…

"Then what happened?" Yumiko suddenly asks out of the blue.

I look at her and cock my head to the side asking "Then what 'what' happened?"

"Aww mom! You're so cute! No wonder mommy Sachiko's head over heels for you!"

I raise one of my brows in question. Yumiko points her head to the side, making me look at a blushing Sachiko. I smirk when her eyes met mine. "Oh really now?"

Sachiko huffs and tilts her head up high proudly. "You of all people should know that by now." She mutters softly to herself but loud enough for me to be able to hear it.

I move closer to her side and whispers, "Of course I know that silly."

I smile when I felt her shudder.

"Geez! Mommy Yumi!"

I laugh. "I'm sorry Yumiko. I couldn't help myself."

She gives me again that mysterious sly grin. _Just_ _what is she thinking about? _"You never did answer my question mommy."

"What do you mean baby?"

Yumiko sighed, and I can tell she was refraining herself to roll her eyes at me. "Mom, I was asking you about what happened next?"

After hearing her answer, realization hit me hard. "Oh" was all I could say.

"So?" She gently questions further while I sigh… again. Just how many times did I sigh tonight?

"What do you want to know?" I reply, resigning to the fact that I might as well satisfy her rather active and intrusive state of mind tonight.

She squeals while Sachiko and I jump in surprise.

"Were you aware of what was happening around you while you were in the hospital mommy?"

I pause and consider the question. Well yeah I was a bit conscious but I never actually knew what was happening around me. All I ever remembered was seeing Sachiko laying her head on the hospital bed while her hand clung unto mine tightly.

"Mommy?"

I face my daughter and honestly reply, "Well I was conscious but never really was aware of what was happening around me. I sometimes heard the voices of Toru Otousan and Oji-san but I never once caught on what they were talking about."

After mentioning that, Sachiko grabs hold of my hands and gives it a slight squeeze. Yumiko and I look at her quizzically. She says, "They were actually trying to persuade me to come back home and resume the wedding. That I was just wasting my time and that you'll be alright without me there. They would always visit there, whether to check on you or to convince me. It was usually the latter though."

"Oji-san did that?"

Sachiko smiles sadly at Yumiko and slowly nods her head. "Yes. Grandfather and Father weren't very… accepting of Yumi and I in the start of our relationship. They say it was a crime to love another of the same gender. In fact, they were the main reason why I almost gave up on Yumi before."

"That's…"

"Don't worry Yumiko. At least now they understand how the heart works." She looks at me with a loving smile.

"And I in turn understood true happiness."

"And how did you understand it mommy?"

Sachiko glances at our daughter and chuckles lightly before saying, "By spending the every passing beat of this right here…" she says while pointing to her chest, "…with your mother, dear Yumiko. Though all of these won't be a possibility without a little help from Mother. She served as my pillar during those times. The time wherein I cancelled my engagement and wedding with Suguru and the time where I admitted I have had feelings for Yumi ever since we met. Never once did she judge me for my decision and for that I am very thankful."

She finishes heartily and looks from Yumiko to me. Once we came face to face with each other again, I flash a loving smile at her.

"And you know just how grateful I am to her as well." I say, a little bit dazed as I got lost in her beautiful ocean pools that are dancing with pure joy and gratefulness.

Our short staring contest got broken however by our little love one. But due to our lack of attention, both of us weren't able to catch on with her question.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that please dear?" I dumbly say to our younger one. Hey, don't blame me! I can't help it if I like getting lost in Sachiko's eyes! They're the most alluring things I have ever seen in my life, well if you won't count the owner of the said eyes of course.

I must have been lost in my thoughts again since I heard laughter in the room. I shake my head to regain my composure and avoid both Yumiko and Sachiko for I knew they were looking at me with a dopy grin and a sly smirk, respectively. I look down and thank goodness my bangs have grown a little bit. At least it helped in covering my usual response—blushing.

"Mom, you… You looked so bashful earlier!"

I turn my head more, begging to the heavens that this sweet torture of words would sooner end. To my dismay, my lovely wife just has to open her mouth.

"See something you like, baby?"

Oh god. I can just melt with that voice. My blood rushes towards my cheeks. And by this time, I am aware that my face felt as hot as lava from all this blushing.

"Uh…"

Before I can formulate a more sensible response, Yumiko softly giggles. I send her a mock glare but truthfully, I am grateful for the save. She shakes her head but the smile on her face remains intact. She then repeats her question.

"After you got healed, what did you do?"

I look at our daughter with a puzzled expression. Just what exactly does she mean?

She sighs. "Mom…"

A few minutes later, her words slowly began to sink in my slightly frenzied mind. "Oh, what happened after I got healed? Is that what you mean, sweetheart?"

She smiles widely at me and frantically nods her head in an overly excited manner.

"Well…" I begin to say.

She gives me her full attention I notice Sachiko doing the same as well, though I can clearly see the look of amusement she sported.

"Well, after I fully recovered from my injuries, the first thing I knew was not really considered pleasant news."

Yumiko's face is one of confusion while Sachiko's, of empathy. I smile at her though my eyes shone of a different emotion. I know exactly how she feels at the moment.

"What news was that, mother?" I hear our little one ask. As curious as ever, isn't she? I chuckle a bit before saying, "We lost someone dear to us that time."

My voice cracked at the end as I took shallow breaths to try and calm myself. I can already feel the sting of tears that were starting to form on the corner of my eyes. I see my daughter looking at me with worry so I shake my head, reach out for hand and give it a little reassuring squeeze.

"You don't have to-"

"Hush, it's alright baby. I'm fine, really. Besides, I want you to know who my savior was. It's about time too." I inhale deeply and briefly glance over at Sachiko who smiles at me encouragingly. I return the smile before focusing back on my daughter.

"Well, do you remember any Kaoru Sakamoto I mentioned earlier?"

Yumiko nods her head in approval. She tilts her head to the side in a really adorable fashion. She appears to be thinking for a while before her expression became that of realization then shock. She opens her mouth to speak only to close it back upon realizing that words seemed to escape her at this moment in time. She takes a big gulp of air and is finally able to stutter out a question, "He… Are you saying he died in that accident?"

I smile at Yumiko's intelligence and amazing ability to comprehend at such a young age. Definitely a trait she got from Sachiko. I nod my approval and give her a rather rueful smile. She returns it. But I was caught off guard when she lunged herself at me.

"Yumiko honey… I can't breathe properly…" I say in a futile attempt to wiggle myself free from her death grip.

"Mommy, I'm here for you. Always. You do know that right?"

I look towards Sachiko and raise my brow in question. She shrugs but I did not miss the tug at the corner of her lips, hinting that she was smiling. "Of course I know that dear. Why would you ever ask such a question?" I ask once we parted from the embrace.

She directly looks into my eyes, into my very soul. She beams at me, her face full of compassion. "If you ever feel sad, I'm here. Mommy's here. Uncle Yuuki and Auntie Touko. Oji-san. Obaa-san. Auntie Youko, Auntie Sei, Auntie Eriko, Auntie Noriko, Auntie Shimako, Auntie Yoshino, Auntie Rei and Auntie Nana are here for. We all are, whenever and wherever you need us."

Never did I notice I was shedding tears until Sachiko wiped them away with her thumb. My gaze went from Yumiko's smiling face to Sachiko's understanding eyes. We both smile at each other, our gazes never leaving the other. I then look back at our daughter and say, "You are so amazing. Do you know that?"

She chuckles before answering, "Why mother, you wound me. Isn't it obvious enough already? Just by looking at you two, I am born to be amazing." She finishes dramatically with a wink at us.

Sachiko and I share a look of disbelief before bursting out into fits of giggles.

Yumiko mockingly glares at us before huffing out an air of annoyance. She crosses her arms childishly as she pokes her nose up in the air.

I can't help but coo at her cuteness, "Oh baby. We're sorry. We didn't mean to make you mad."

She answers us with an annoyed grump, although we can tell she really didn't mind our playfulness due to the small smile she desperately tried to hide from our view.

Sachiko leans down and whispers near my ear, "See? I told you. Even our daughter says you're amazing."

I turn to face her and stick my tongue out heartily. Before I can utter words though, she captures my lips in a quick peck. I blush furiously at that and quickly cast a sideways glace at Yumiko's direction. I let out a breath I wasn't aware I was holding, at least subconsciously. I glare at an amused Sachiko and half-threateningly say, "Do that stunt again and I'll never let you kiss me for a week."

She pouts at me and I grunt in response. Ugh, I hate it when she uses that face against me! I let out a sullen huff. "You're lucky you're cute." I mumble under my breath. Though the huge grin she flashes me was enough of a sign that my words were clearly audible to her.

"You know, Yumiko's really cute when she's mad, isn't she?"

I look at her funnily. Why did she change the topic at hand?

"Just like you, Mi Amor." She breathes out. I shiver, not from the cold but from the bolt of electricity that coursed through me upon her breathy endearment.

We hear a cough and we both turn to look at the source. We see our daughter whose face was coated with a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks. I instantly followed suit in her blushing upon realizing we got caught in our moment that I totally forgot about Yumiko's presence.

Yumiko flashes me a rather nervous smile and coughs one more time. "So, mommy, what happened after that?"

This time, Sachiko was the one who answered.

"Well, because your mother is naturally a cry baby, she cried after the news…"

I didn't let her finish though as I cut in, clearly I am embarrassed. "Hey! I am not a cry baby!"

They both snicker at my declaration. I face my daughter who was covering her mouth to prevent her giggles. I pout at her. She just chortles and says, "Oh you've got to admit mom…"

"Yumiko!"

She raises her hand in defeat. "Okay, okay. I was joking!"

"Are you really still eight years old?" I grumble a bit.

"Of course I am mom."

"Humpf. You're lucky I love you both." I say before alternating my gaze from Yumiko to Sachiko.

"So mom?"

"Oh right. Well, after checking that your mother here is completely healed, I took her out for dates."

"Dates?" I notice Yumiko's eyes seem to light upon mentioning the concept of dating.

"Yes. Dates. I took her out to amusement parks, dinner for two at any type of restaurant, a walk in the cool breeze of the night. We even go hiking and camping, occasionally." Sachiko says rather dreamily.

"Wow, I never knew dates can be very..."

"Fun?" I ask.

"Wonderful?" I hear Sachiko ask from beside me.

Yumiko seems to be deep in thought as she ponders on the right word.

"Romantic?" I ask one more time.

"Oh I know, you never knew dates should be treated with specialty." Sachiko grins as she states it confidently and proudly. But her smile falters when Yumiko shakes her head.

"No. I never knew dates could be troublesome…"

My ears perk up at that. Seriously? Did she just say "Dates are troublesome."? Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Sachiko's mouth hanging from shock. She obviously did not expect that. I can't help it, I burst out laughing. The look Sachiko was having is totally priceless. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes from all this laughing. Both she and Yumiko look at me like I have grown a second head.

I shake my head, the smile and amusement never leaving me. "Troublesome? Really, Yumiko?"

Yumiko was about to protest but I beat her to it. "Out of all the adjectives created, you chose troublesome to describe the word dating. Wow, you really are something."

Sachiko smiles with my words as she was beginning to tremble. I'm guessing she was trying to stop herself from laughing at Yumiko's pouting lips.

A few moments later, the three of us bursts out laughing until our stomachs were aching from the pleasurable pain.

Yumiko playfully swats my arm saying, "You're so mean mom."

I grin back at her replying, "Right back at you."

Her eyes, together with Sachiko's, widen in shock before we once again laugh our guts out. "Touché, mom. Touché."

After finally settling down our laughter to occasional giggles here and there, Yumiko looks at the digital clock on the nightstand to read it was already past midnight.

My eyes widen in astonishment as I berated myself for not being conscious of the time. "Sweetie, I think you need to get to bed."

"But mom…"

"No buts, young lady. In fact…" I look at Sachiko, "…we all need to get to bed. Today after all, is an important day to all of us."

Yumiko shots me a questioning glance. I immediately understand her silent question as I answered, "It's your Uncle Kaori's death anniversary today."

Yumiko sleepily nods her head. "Can I sleep here with you tonight?"

I smile lovingly at her as Sachiko replies to her request, "Of course, baby. You are welcome here anytime."

She yawns and lays her head on the pillow, positioning herself in the middle of the bed. Sachiko walks to the other side and starts stroking little Yumiko's hair, lulling her to sleep.

"Mmm…" We hear.

"Mom?" Yumiko sleepily mumbles.

We chuckle a bit before I hum our answer.

"How did mommy Sachiko propose to you?"

I choke a bit at that. Now why would she ask that?

"Well..." I turn to look at Sachiko who was giving me a loving gaze. And for the third time in my life, I fell in love.

"Mommy?"

"She proposed to me at the beach, just as the sun was setting."

Yumiko hums, signaling me that she was still listening.

"I remember it as if it just happened yesterday. We were already five years in our relationship back then. Sachiko picked me up from the house, asking my parent's permission if she could take me out. They readily agreed and I was glad about it. I got changed and we went out for a drive. After a few minutes of driving with no specific destination at hand, Sachiko suddenly brought me to the beach. We got out of the car and once again mindlessly walked in the shoreline, with Sachiko in tow. It was in the middle of our walk when a man walked up to me and offered me a bouquet of flowers. I rejected it of course, knowing full well just how outrageous your mother can get when she gets jealous."

"Hey!"

Yumiko laughs quietly at that.

"Hush baby. You know it's true."

Sachiko pouts as I kissed her on the cheek. "And I love you for it."

She beams at me and I marvel at how cute she is.

"As I was saying, I rejected the flowers instantly but the man insisted. So I gave in eventually. I chuckled nervously and turned around, only to discover that your mother was nowhere in sight. And being me, I got worried so I frantically scanned the crowd of people. To my devastation, I couldn't find her anywhere. My worry doubled. And it was at that moment that a man was calling out for me from the ocean. I turned around to the man's voice. He was waving and saying something to me. But because he was so far away, I wasn't able to hear a single sound he said. The man probably knew that as well since he face-palmed himself and thought for a moment."

I briefly smile at how silly the man looked.

"I waited patiently for him. And surely after a good three minutes, he was waving his had frantically and pointed up towards the sky. I was confused at first with his actions but he persisted on pointing up so I did as I was instructed."

I pause.

"Mommy? Why'd you stop?" Yumiko half-whined, half-scolded.

"I'm sorry dear. I thought you were asleep."

"No, it's okay. I'm still listening. Please, go on."

I smile at my daughter's stubbornness in fighting her tiredness. "Alright. Anyways, I looked up and marveled at how beautiful the sky looked. The perfect combination of red, orange and yellow coated the entire horizon. Looking up, I noticed a small acrobatic plane. I easily identified it since it released some sort of smoke. Well, it circled and tumbled and did tricks. The other occupants of the beach also stopped what they were doing to look up what it was doing. I was so engrossed at its movements that it wasn't until I heard squeals from the others that I registered the plane was actually writing a message."

"A message?"

"Yes baby. It said in fluffy handwriting 'Fukuzawa Yumi, will you marry me?' I immediately whipped my body to look behind only to come face to face with a kneeling Sachiko who nervously held a box containing our engagement ring. All I could do was stare at her that time, completely unprepared with the sight that greeted me. Bask with the color of the sunset, Sachiko looked was so beautiful. She looked up from her lashes and uttered the words that I dreamed to hear. I cried and darted towards her. As soon as she got up, I flung myself at her. It's a good thing your mother here has a good sense of balance or the both of us will end up on the sand. I showered her with kisses, not caring if people were witnessing all of it. I hugged her and agreed to become her wife."

I look at our daughter with a loving expression. I take her hand in mine and give it a light squeeze.

"Years passed and we got ourselves a guardian angel. And that is you, Yumiko. We will always be here for you Yumiko. We'll be here for you whenever, wherever. But I'm sure you know that, yes?"

"Yes." Yumiko turns up to look at me and flashes me a sleepy grin. I grin back.

"We love you, baby." Sachiko and I both say at the same time. A bit creepy, if I may say so myself.

She genuinely smiles at us as she whispers, "I love you too, mommies. Can I come with later?"

"Come where, baby?"

"I want to meet and greet Uncle Kaoru, if you won't mind?"

"Of course. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to meet you. Now go to sleep. We'll have a long day later on and I don't want you to be so tired."

"Alright mommy. Good night. Sweet dreams."

"Don't let the bed bugs bite."

About twenty minutes later, I got up and stroll towards the balcony. The moon is shining brightly in the clear sky, accompanied by gazillions of stars.

"Beautiful." I look at my back and smile upon seeing Sachiko leaning on the frame of the large sliding door. I stare back up at the sky as I say my agreement.

"I wasn't referring to the stars."

I know she was slowly making her way to me since I hear a faint sound of footsteps coming towards me. She then wraps her arms around my waist as I lean back unto her front.

"Then what were you referring to?" I ask quietly, afraid that I might disturb the tranquility of the scenery.

Sachiko lowers her lips near my ear and simply whispers, "You."

I bite my lower lip to prevent the small whimper that resulted from Sachiko's lips lightly grazing my earlobe.

"And nothing will ever compare to your beauty, Yumi. You are the most alluring woman I have ever set eyes on and I would give up anything just to see you smile. Yumi, I love you with all of my heart, body and soul. With every fiber of my being." She kisses me just below my ear and inhales my scent. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" She says, more to herself.

I smile and spin around in our embrace to face her. I cup her cheeks and say, "Just by being you. The you who is strong, caring, stubborn and way too smart for her own good. The you who makes me smile even though I don't feel like it. The you who manages to make me giddy inside every time you are around. The you who knows and shares my weaknesses and strengths. The you who showers me with sensational feelings I never thought I would be able to experience in a lifetime. The you who effortlessly makes me fall in love every single day. And most especially, you. The one and only you. The one made especially for me to love in this life. The very one whom my heart will treasure for all eternity. The one whom my soul refers to as its mate. I love you, Ogasawara Sachiko. Everything about you, I love." I say as I inch closer to her lips.

She whispers as our lips are only a few centimeters apart. "But I have flaws and imperfections."

I smile before saying, "I don't care."

"But I was the reason of your sadness, your sufferings."

"Was. But you are also the reason of my living."

"But I can be hysterical at times."

"You thought I didn't know that until now?" I raise my brow at her in challenge. I see her smile through the moonlight.

"But I…"

"And you are the only one that I have loved, love and will love. Now shut up and kiss me." I say to her before her lips came crashing into mine.

This kiss we share as of the moment seals every promise, vanishes our remaining insecurities, and links our souls into one.

One thing's for sure.

I am irrevocably, hopelessly and completely in love with none other than Ogasawara Sachiko.

And I guess the night agrees with me, since it blesses us with its cool breeze during our passionate kiss.

Kaoru, thank you for showing me the light when I was buried deep in the abyss. And thank you for reminding me just how important Sachiko is to me. Thank you, my friend. I am eternally in your debt.

* * *

**The End.**

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A/N: Here's a box of tissue for your bleeding nose *hands a box of tissue* Isn't her version better than mine? ^^ So yeah this will definitely be the last chapter! Please send veamgee a PM or two for her amazing work (that mine can't compare too *cough*) Have a nice day!

Hope to hear from you soon,

AsulNaRosa


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